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Brendon McCullum detested the term Bazball since it was coined, deeming it overly simplistic and perhaps foreseeing how it could be used as a weapon down the line. Currently, down 2-0 in an away Ashes series that began with high hopes, it has turned into the subject of Australian jokes.

However the coach has contributed to the problem either. After the crushing defeat at the Gabba, his insistence that, if anything, England were 'too prepared' prior to the day-night Test was like trying to put out a bin fire with petrol. It risks becoming his lasting legacy as England head coach if results do not take an upturn.

In a way, you almost have to admire his dedication to the philosophy. While he claims to ignore external noise, he will have been all too aware of an England team increasingly characterised as carefree and underprepared.

The reality, as always, is not so simple. England play as much golf during their scheduled breaks as their rivals and they train just as much. Before the Gabba Test, they trained for longer, completing five days to Australia's three, due to their limited experience to the pink ball and the different seeing conditions.

The Debate of Preparation and Practice

The coach's point about being "excessively ready" was that those five extra days were his decision – the instance he wavered in his conviction that minimal preparation is best. It suggested a significant amount of mental energy was used up before they even took the field in the cauldron of Australia's stronghold. While nets are a chance to refine technique, they can also become a safety blanket; low-pressure activity that simply keeps the reflexes sharp.

Schedules are tight such that pre-series state games were not possible (and uncertain value, when you consider England playing three before the whitewash in 2013-14). More difficult to justify is the disregard of county championship cricket as a valuable experience in general, as shown by a young player's unproductive season.

On-Field Shortcomings and Strategic Lack of Evolution

Match practice alone prepares cricketers for the many situations they encounter, and it is here where England have thus far fallen well short. It is not only with the bat – as poor as some of the shot selection has been – but an bowling attack that seems without a spearhead. No bowler has demonstrated the patience or control that the exceptional Mitchell Starc and his support cast have delivered.

The coach's unconventional outlook was freeing during its first 12 months, an excellent, apt remedy to shake off the lethargy that came before. The frustration now stems from how it has apparently failed to move beyond that point – an absence of an upgrade to the original software that has seen results taper off to 14 wins and 14 losses from their last 30 Tests.

Squad Focus and Team Decisions

One such player is Jamie Smith, a talent, undoubtedly, but one who is being constantly tested on both edges and has dropped two key chances with the gloves. The situation is not aided when your opposite number, the Australian keeper, has just produced a masterful performance.

Going by the coach's comments after the match, England appear set to keep the faith with Smith in Adelaide. The expectation – as is the case – is that a return to a more familiar Test setting unleashes his best, with Perth's bouncy pitch and the unusual floodlit Test now in the past.

Another option is to enact the plan discovered during the victorious series in New Zealand last year by shifting Ollie Pope down to his more natural home as a active middle order player, handing him the gloves, and picking a new No 3. Bethell made some runs for the Lions over the weekend, or maybe Will Jacks could fulfil a similar role to Moeen Ali in 2023.

Ultimately, these changes is ideal, however Australia's superior basics having destroyed expectations and forced the broader philosophy into the harsh glare of scrutiny.